Andrew Lloyd Webber- Page 3
Andrew Lloyd Webber
metropolis10111
Broadway Star Joined: 7/28/06
#50re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/20/08 at 5:59pmI just think that there is a double standard when it comes to Steve . I love some of his work just as I love some of Andrew's but it's the people that have such bitter venom towards Andrew that I don't get. They hang SS up on a cross like he's a theater saint and commit ALW to the burning at the stake. SS has had some MAJOR stinkers in lyrics as has ALW...but SS is ok because he wrote them himself, so Andy can't rhyme to save his life big deal. SS has had may a tuneless nightmare parade in agony across the stage and Andy has had some boring ones, but to say that SS is so perfect and ALW such crap is very narrow minded of some people. I'll go out on a limb here and say ALW has gotten more butts in theater seats and introduced more young people to theater then any other living composer of his generation so to me his shows are welcome in my I-pod.
#51re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/20/08 at 6:06pm
"I'll go out on a limb here and say ALW has gotten more butts in theater seats and introduced more young people to theater then any other living composer of his generation so to me his shows are welcome in my I-pod."
And that's where everyone tries to defend their composers/shows. Just because something is good, doesn't mean people will like it. Just because something is bad, doesn't mean people won't like it. So the popularity has almost nothing to do with it.
I find most of ALW's compositions to be boring, and many of them lack depth. Some are great, brilliant even, but some are not.
Personally I've heard a few songs from Sondheim that weren't his best, but I'd hardly call them tuneless nightmares. I'd rather hear a unique song that may not be the best, than to hear three the same three melodies repeated countlesly.
"Light the candles! Get the ice out! Roll the rug up, it's today!"
#52re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/20/08 at 6:07pm
I admit, I'm biased.
I did see ALW pick his nose and eat his boogers.
SS has always left the room to do that...
"It's not so much do what you like, as it is that you like what you do." SS
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx
#53re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/20/08 at 6:10pm
Just because ALW sells tickets and caters to the masses doesn't make him great. It makes him profitable and business-savy, sure, but hardly great.
I've said this before. If given the choice, I'll always pick Sondheim over Webber. I enjoy listening to Sondheim more.
Sondheim writes complete shows. I've always felt that Webber focuses on one or two songs, and the rest are done on the side.
"Writing is like prostitution. First, you do it for love, then you do it for a few friends, and finally you do it for money." ~ Moliere
#54re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/20/08 at 6:27pm
It's true nitsua,
If you've ever seen the actual score of Phantom, it's not completely written out. (At least back in the early days...)
SS's scores are completely written--every chord voicing decided by Steve. Each inversion is clear. ALW had written chord sheets for the most part.
To be fair, that is not unusual for Broadway scores. (I myself have shorthanded scores I've written to let the arranger fill in the blanks--time being the issue.)
SS actually figures it all out. That's why he's "slow" at writing. His harmonies are intricate and dependent on the melodies--and most importantly on the character voice he's writing for.
It's always about story and character. That dictates everything else in his work. Which, also is why his "songs" are not always "lift-able" from his shows.
"It's not so much do what you like, as it is that you like what you do." SS
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx
#55re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/20/08 at 6:36pm
That's why I like Sondheim. His songs are dependent on each other. I think that's why I didn't necessarily care for the Sweeney Todd movie. It felt incomplete.
I'd much rather write a great show that lasts a month than a crapfest that lasts a decade.
"Writing is like prostitution. First, you do it for love, then you do it for a few friends, and finally you do it for money." ~ Moliere
#56re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/20/08 at 6:52pm
I agree, however, I still think Sweeney worked as a movie, because it focused on the story and eliminated the things that would have bored a movie audience.
SS approved for the same reason. He made the cuts himself, for the most part. At least the underscoring made up for most of the omissions.
Things that work on stage and that an audience are willing to sit through, don't always work on film. SS wanted a thrilling slasher film and I think he got it!
Oh well, that's been discussed to death on these boards. LOL!!!
Decade crapfests, unfortunately are beginning to define American theatre artists. Scary.
Yet, poop makes me laugh. Sometimes, I just want a poop joke.
"It's not so much do what you like, as it is that you like what you do." SS
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx
#57re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/20/08 at 7:51pm
A few peripherals:
"When I worked on the casting team of the original CATS, ALW pretty much nixed anyone who sang a SS song at their audition."
He still does. On the recent reality TV casting show for the West End revival of Joseph (which he presided over) one of the entrants had the misjudgement to sing Being Alive really well and was promptly eliminated.
"It's amazing he's had so many wives."
It would be even more amazing if one of them had stuck with him!
"ALW's Lordship. That's a joke! All a British person has to do is be famous. It's a useless title."
The British honours system, though far from perfect, is rather more complex than that; hence Sir Steven Spielberg amongst other anomalies.
Updated On: 3/21/08 at 07:51 PM
singingbackup
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/3/06
#58re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/20/08 at 8:04pmALW is a guilty pleasure, though I am a big fan of EVITA, his best, in my opinion.
#59re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/20/08 at 8:40pmAre those song comparisons in the youtube clip accurate?
#60re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/20/08 at 9:13pmThey seem to be accurate? I hear the similarities at least.
"Light the candles! Get the ice out! Roll the rug up, it's today!"
#61re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/20/08 at 9:17pm
Isn't Speilberg famous?
Bono = famous
Elton John = famous
Bono and EJ have used their celebrity to do some humanitarian acts, so I don't mind that.
I'm still waiting for Dame Angelina Jolie.
(Yeah, I know, she's not British...)
"Writing is like prostitution. First, you do it for love, then you do it for a few friends, and finally you do it for money." ~ Moliere
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#62re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/20/08 at 9:37pm
I totally admit I'm listening to JCS tomorrow in honor of Good Friday.
But that being said, my biggest problem with ALW (that hasn't been mentioned, anyway) is that he doesn't seem to know how to write for the voice. He writes ridiculous ranges.
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
#63re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/21/08 at 6:37am
Sir David Tweedie = not famous but someone who has made an enormous contribution in his chosen field. Ditto Sir Tim Berners Lee. And I could list many others.
I don't like the fact that Lloyd Webber is a Lord either but the fact that he can generate so much debate (such as the way this thread has developed in such a short space of time) is one of the many and various reasons why he does have the title.
What I'm saying is that if you want to criticise our honours system you need to be absolutely sure of the grounds on which you base your arguments, because it is a much more complex issue than simply being famous.
Back on topic and for the record I enjoy some of Lloyd Webbers scores but recognise his limitations, whereas I enjoy all of Sondheim's scores and recognise he has no limitations.
Updated On: 3/21/08 at 06:37 AM
#64re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/21/08 at 8:39amI feel like ALW had (and I’m sure still has) an enormous amount of talent and potential, he had written and orchestrated Jesus Christ Superstar by the time he was 20, witch is undeniably a huge accomplishment. That was followed by Evita witch in my opinion is his best score. I even give him credit for Cats. Taking a book of poetry and setting it to music is a great idea and in theory makes for an interesting piece of theater. The problem with Cats is that what should have been a small experimental off-Broadway show, was instead a huge mega musical that ran for 15 years. After this string of hits his shows start to feel over indulgent and more about the spectacle than the story. From Phantom on his shows have only a handful of actual songs that are reprised ad nauseam and strung together by piss poor recitative. I feel like he went from a composer who wrote out of a burning desire to create something to express himself, to being a producer who wrote for the sake of creating a commercially viable commodity.
JD2
Chorus Member Joined: 1/31/08
#65re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/21/08 at 9:30amALW has composed some memorable songs that have achieved wide popularity largely through so many singers performing those songs. He does appeal to a broad spectrum of the public and it's a testament to that appeal that he has been announced as a "mentor" on an upcoming episode of American Idol. I guess that week the "theme" will be songs from his musicals? I'm not sure if ALW is going to be pleased with the AI contestants take on his songs.
#67re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/30/08 at 1:26pm
I'm having to eat my words now because ALW has just announced that the guy who sang Being Alive (see post dated 3/20/0
has just been cast in the national tour of Evita.
(his researchers have obviously read this thread!)
#68re: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted: 3/30/08 at 2:55pm
AI probably chose him because knows who he is.
But I wish they would've chosen Marc and Scott!
"Writing is like prostitution. First, you do it for love, then you do it for a few friends, and finally you do it for money." ~ Moliere
FIERCEY516
Featured Actor Joined: 3/25/08
#69ALW's huge mistake...
Posted: 3/30/08 at 3:38pm
for me, none of his work can make me forget the fact that he actually wrote one of the MOST TERRIBLE scores I have ever had the unfortunate displeasure of listening to...
"Starlight Express"
I even saw the original production in London with an open mind and wanted a refund. One of the worst musicals ever. the show is god awful but the music is even worst -- I wonder if it could drive me to suicide?
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